The end of the eighties was the time of miracles in the Soviet Union . The population of the sixth of the land believed in Gorbachev, Chumak, Kashpirovsky. The Ogonyok magazine published sensational articles, Komsomolskaya Pravda did not lag behind it, and it seemed to everyone that prosperity times were just around the corner, there was a real trifle: to do everything the way it was abroad.
A beauty contest in the USSR has never been held, and someone in the party leadership decided that it was time to demonstrate to the whole world, and at the same time to their own people, that the country was moving in the right direction, becoming familiar with the values of the "civilized world." Spectacular girls in the Soviet Union always, unlike consumer goods and food, were enough. In this regard, we were not inferior to the West.
Like any large-scale event, the first beauty contest in the USSR required organizational costs. The money was found in the party cash desk, by today's standards it was not enough.
Enthusiasts hoping to get a lucky ticket of fate lined up in a queue of mausoleum length from the metro station to the entrance to the culture park, where the selection point was located. No one announced the criteria by which the degree of prettiness will be determined, so all the women came who considered themselves pretty, regardless of height, weight and physique.
The name of the contest “Moscow Beauty” immediately set certain parameters for appearance, but the internationalism inherent in Soviet society allowed everyone who met the basic criteria to take part. As a result, six of the most-most were selected from the thousands of queues.
From the very beginning, it was assumed that the winner of the first beauty contest in the USSR would be a Slav, this followed from his very name.
Despite the desire for foreign standards, a too tall and thin girl, such as one of the "semi-finalists", Elena Peredreeva, had too much a "model" appearance. The other, Oksana Fandera, was both young and good, but she could not be a Moscow beauty, because she came from Odessa. Elena Durneva looked great, but the winner of the first beauty contest in the USSR with that name ... nonsense!
In general, two girls reached the finals, Masha Kalinina and Katya Chilichkina. In their external parameters, they were approximately equivalent. The selection task facing the jury was not easy. After painful deliberation, its members, who had gone through a serious school in the Komsomol and the party, decided that the name “Chilichkina” does not sound completely ideologically restrained. Enough with her and the prize of audience sympathy. So in 1988, the winner of the first beauty contest in the USSR was chosen, it turned out to be Masha Kalinina. The reward was a fur coat and new opportunities, inaccessible to ordinary Soviet citizens and citizens.
The fashion house has signed a contract with the most attractive girl of the USSR. It is not known what material dividends he brought, the main thing is that he opened the door to a new life, similar to a fairy tale. Routs, receptions, presentations were replaced one after another, and at some of these events the elderly sponsor asked what the young creature was dreaming of. The creation dreamed of the same thing that many other Soviet girls of the late eighties had to do: to go abroad (preferably to Hollywood) and learn English (without it you won’t be able to play in American cinema).
The winner of the first beauty contest in the USSR received everything she dreamed about. She graduated from acting school in the United States, and even starred in several episodes. After a quarter of a century, it can be assumed that she did not seek family joys.
Then there were other contests, and as the "creative development" of public interest in them became more and more sluggish. Even to people very far from show business, the fact of buying and selling prizes became obvious. In addition, unlike Western models, our selection criteria did not take into account the participants ’intellect, their ability to coherently pronounce at least a few phrases, not to mention other abilities, to sing or dance, for example. Perhaps our beauties did not need all this, they are already good ...